ABSTRACT
In an ideal world, the best solution would be if all risk could be removed to achieve a completely accident-free situation. In practice, this is however possible in very few, if any, circumstances. Regardless of what efforts we make, there will be a residual risk that we cannot remove completely. There are thus practical limitations on what can be achieved and the cost of reducing risk will increase the more effort we put into reducing it. Despite statements like “Safety is always our priority number one” we will come to a point where we have to say that there are other objectives that are more important. It is important to distinguish between the perceived risk experienced by individuals and calculated risk in quantitative risk analysis. In decision making, both individual and societal risk acceptance criteria may be applied. In many cases it is difficult to set precise criteria and the As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) principle may be a good alternative whereby we identify a zone between unacceptable risk and acceptable risk, denoted “As Low As Reasonably Practicable”. It is however also extensive use of quantitative risk acceptance criteria in the maritime field.
